CBB Reviews hands out awards for each conference tournament in 2023. Up next: The ACC Tournament.
In Sam Bass’ ACC preview, he predicted a Duke vs. Virginia final. He was spot on, with Duke beating Virginia to win the ACC Tournament and punch their ticket into March. This is Duke’s first year under new Head Coach Jon Scheyer. He went undefeated versus ACC teams at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils have won nine straight, dating back to February 11th when they were at Virginia and lost on a missed call by the referees at the end of the 2nd half. Had the Cavaliers won, Duke would still have likely won an auto-bid.
CBB Review ACC Tournament Outstanding Player
Kyle Filipowski, Duke Blue Devils
Dominance. I think that is the best word to describe Filipowski’s play in the ACC Tournament. Despite only getting to the charity stripe 7 times through the 3 games Duke played, he averaged nearly 20 PPG. He put up a double-double in the semifinal against Miami (Fla) and the final versus Virginia. He put up 22 points in just 16 minutes in the quarterfinal matchup when they took on Pittsburgh. One more eye-opening stat here – he shot 66.7% from the field (24-for-36) and 46.1% from downtown (6-for-13).
CBB Review All-ACC Tournament First Team
- G: Jeremy Roach, Duke – 3 games played (15.0 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.7 APG)
- G: Isaiah Wong, Miami – 1 game played (27.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 3.0 APG)
- G: Jordan Miller, Miami – 1 game played (22.0 PPG, 2.0 APG, 2.0 RPG)
- F: Jayden Gardner, Virginia – 2 games played (15.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 1.0 APG)
- C: Kyle Filipowski, Duke-– 3 games played (19.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.3 APG)
Duke’s NCAA Tournament Prediction
Elite Eight
If I told you at the beginning of the season… Not even that far back. If I told you in the middle of February that this Duke team could make a run to the Final Four, I hope you would laugh in my face. They lost back-to-back games against strong, ranked teams and didn’t seem to have an identity.
Now, they’ve won nine straight and are the hottest team in college basketball. They have learned their strengths and how to attack. Jon Scheyer has learned how to compose his team as a first-year Head Coach.
I’ll be straightforward with you — I was hesitant as I was writing ‘Elite Eight’. But let’s be honest… this is probably the weakest region of the bracket.
That being said, Duke is going up against one of the best No. 12-seeds in the tournament in Oral Roberts and the 7th best scorer in the country in Max Abmas. The Blue Devils are young all-around, from their roster to their 35-year-old head coach.
Duke may likely bust your bracket, with either a first round exit, or a trip to Houston. But that’s March, right!?